Entry 8: "The More You Subtract...."

"Imagine-girls made to feel so terrible about themselves that they would rather be dead than fat."

I chose this quote because I feel I can relate to it. Mind you I have never wanted to kill myself but I know how hard girls can struggle with their weight. One of the hardest things to do is to lose weight. Girls are constantly surrounded by media and advertising and they see these tiny, skinny, petite girls and feel they need to feel like that. These girls have a feeling of no self-worth. After seeing magazines and ads and commercials about being skinny it hurts these girls self-esteem's. The media portrays a message that "thin is beautiful" and girls really believe this crap. I call it crap because that is exactly what it is. It is lies to get girls to buy a whole line of products. These girls buy diet pills, make-up, or even corset's that make them appear to look "thin". It's really sad to think all these young girls who should feel beautiful and confident and know not every girl is the same size is sitting around thinking all these negative thoughts. No girl is the same size or ha the same body shape. I truly believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No girl should ever have to be judged by the way she looks. But we all know that, that is our society. Guys watch movies with these girls who are super skinny and it attracts them so they judge girls based on the movies they watch. It is all just a sad thing to think a girl would kill herself over something so petty. Unless it is putting your life in danger.

"Imagine-girls made to feel so terrible about themselves that they would rather be dead than fat."

I chose this quote because I feel I can relate to it. Mind you I have never wanted to kill myself but I know how hard girls can struggle with their weight. One of the hardest things to do is to lose weight. Girls are constantly surrounded by media and advertising and they see these tiny, skinny, petite girls and feel they need to feel like that. These girls have a feeling of no self-worth. After seeing magazines and ads and commercials about being skinny it hurts these girls self-esteem's. The media portrays a message that "thin is beautiful" and girls really believe this crap. I call it crap because that is exactly what it is. It is lies to get girls to buy a whole line of products. These girls buy diet pills, make-up, or even corset's that make them appear to look "thin". It's really sad to think all these young girls who should feel beautiful and confident and know not every girl is the same size is sitting around thinking all these negative thoughts. No girl is the same size or ha the same body shape. I truly believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No girl should ever have to be judged by the way she looks. But we all know that, that is our society. Guys watch movies with these girls who are super skinny and it attracts them so they judge girls based on the movies they watch. It is all just a sad thing to think a girl would kill herself over something so petty. Unless it is putting your life in danger.

"Thus many girls spend enormous amounts of time and energy attempting to achieve something that is not only trivial but also completely unattainable." (Page 128).

I chose this particular quotation from the text, because I feel like this really reflects what the current generation of girls focuses intensely on. Advertisement agencies market images of models, who all generally have thin body shapes and flawless beauty. Girls then see these images through advertisements that flood the broadcast media,. Thus, making it difficult for them to avoid becoming influenced by what society perceives beauty as. Once girls believe the message advertisers tell them, they think physical beauty is the utmost importance in life in order to succeed in society. So girls then rely on advertisements to purchase consumer items models showcase. They do this in hopes that those goods will help them achieve the advertised beauty. So advertisers then take advantage of their control over this generation of transfixed girls, by constantly changing trends in order to force girls to keep up with the perceived standard of beauty. But what these girls don't realize is that they will never attain the image of beauty marketed by advertisers, because the images are extremely altered. It does not matter how many goods a girl acquires over time, because in the end they can never look like what a computer generates. It requires a lengthly and heavy process in order to create the marketed flawless images of women that girls worship. These already super human models have a team of makeup artists and hairstylists to heighten their appearance, then on top of that their photographs are put through intense photoshop alterations. So in the end, girls just waste their time on buying goods forever hoping to look like something that does not exist naturally in reality.

“The story that advertising tells is that the way to be happy, to find satisfaction, and to be free politically is through the consumption of material objects"

This quote is basically saying that we could gain happinese through shopping. I agree with this quote even though it is a bad influence on us because it is true that we are happy, and we enjoy the process of comsuming. Advertising to children plays an important role because the kids want to be "cool" and not be left out. Thus, children would consume anything that makes them "cool" because they could gain happinese and satisfaction through consuming those things. The way to be happy and to find satisfaction through consuming not only affects children, but also adults. There are many times, on television shows or in reality, that I heard people complaining they were in a bad mood and wanted to go shopping. Even adults find happinese and satisfaction through shopping. Indeed, it has became a trend for people to spend money on things they like in order to gain happinese and satisfaction. This is also what the companies want through their adversements. Advertisements influcence people, no matter what age they are, to consume more to be happy and satisfied.

"It also causes enormous suffering, involving girls in quests for power and control based on their beauty and the products they own, while deflecting attention and energy from that which might really empower them."

I chose this quote because it is very true. Advertisements portray a variety of topics that a girl must have in order to become ideal. It causes immense confusion among young girls because they are going through the already difficult phase of puberty and are still very pure. They are trying to figure out who they really are and what "empowers" and drives them to their true goals. While they are in this process, advertisements bombard them with images of beautifully thin women, which is "desired by all". These ilustrations lower their self-esteem and makes them want to be like what they see; they want to be the center of attention and be popular. Advertisements create the idea that the only way to be like the commercialized woman is to buy the company's products. The commercials alter the girls' way of life and makes them avert all their attention to their outer appearance. These girls put aside education and a successful career at such a young age. And when they grow up, advertisements continue to lead the way.

“Even girls who are raised in loving homes by supportive parents grow up in a toxic cultural environment, at risk for self-mutilation, eating disorders, and addictions” (127).

I chose this quote because it reinforces the fact that parents are not completely responsible for what the media, especially advertisements, has done to adolescent girls. Parents don’t have complete control of what their daughters see and hear. So, the environment is largely responsible for shaping a girl’s thoughts, beliefs, and values, whether good or bad. Parents can try to prevent it by limiting their daughters’ media exposure, but this is only viable to a certain extent. In other words, no girl is completely safe from the harm that advertising can cause because the girls that develop problems related to the media are not restricted to a certain group. It can happen to anybody; and, that should raise some concern considering that these adolescents will someday be the future. In order for self-mutilation, eating disorders, and addictions to decrease, we must change the environment we live in.

“The obsession with thinness is most deeply about cutting girls and women down to size. It is only a symbol, albeit a very powerful and destructive one, of tremendous fear of female empowerment.” (132)

I chose this quote because I never really thought advertisements had this intent. However, it does make sense. If women are constantly self-conscious and insecure, then they will never live up to their full potential. And since no one can ever escape advertisements, everywhere women go they are constantly being told they are not good enough. While advertisements do make men insecure, it is to a much lesser extent than women. Advertisers are targeting women. Some may argue that women are more susceptible to advertisements because they are more “sensitive” than men, but I believe women are targeted by advertisements to oppress them.

"Girls are a favorite target of advertisers because they are new consumers, are beginning to have significant disposable income, and are developing brand loyalty that might last a lifetime." (pg. 128)

Companies take advantage of the growing young women. They are hitting puberty and and are trying to fit in with the women rather than the kids. Magazines and TV shows show an appearance and the young girls want to look like them. Certain brands are featured in the shows or magazine covers and the girls memorize them in order to look like the models. This is where the brand loyalty begins. Companies have learned that girls will do anything to look like the "role" models on the ads. So the companies begin to focus their attention on this group of girls becoming young ladies to lure them. As the young girls become obsessed with certain brands, companies make money and the girls look beautiful.

"Adolescent girls are told that they have to give up much of what they know about relationships and intimacy if they want to attract men." (pg. 138)

Girls at a young age are given a certain image they should up hold. That this is a mans world, men have certain powers whereas woman should not be included. There is a certain role woman play and man should be most of the time in charge. That is how it works in relationships, they are the ones who wear the pants in the relationship. All you have to do is follow what I personally would could very old fashion view upon how things should work between a man and a woman. You don't have to always let a man be in charge. You can be independent, strong, and great all by yourself with your own thoughts and opinions about many things. Refuse to dumb down to this level where the man is in charge and you are under.

"Women have long been divided into virgins and whores. What is new is that girls are now supposed to embody both within themselves"(page 135.)

This statement couldn't be more true. By parents and family, girls are told to hold on to there virtue, that it's the "only thing we have that's truly ours," but then we see shows and movies and music videos and commercials, and any form of advertisement and we see a woman who is virtually a sex god. She's beautiful, flawless, sexy, long and lean. These commercials are telling us that we should embody the way she looks, acts and thinks. But then when a girl tries to embody this, she gets called obscene names because she's no longer "pure" or "innocent" but yet woman are supposed to believe that every man wants a woman who embodies both. How is a woman supposed to embody both a sexual and innocent person inside her, and still be herself? There is so many mixed signals, it's hard for a girl who has just "come of age sexually" to decipher what everyone wants from her.

"Girls are put into a terrible double bond. They are supposed to repress their power, their anger, and their exuberance and be simply "nice" although they also eventually must compete with men in the business world and be successful. They must be overtly sexy and attractive but essentially passive and virginal."

There is just so much pressure put on teenagers, especially female teens. Female Teenagers are lost and trying to find their identity while being pressured to be smart, look pretty, be nice, and be skinny. They go to extremes to achieve this. Eating disorders like Anorexia and Bulemia arise from advertising companies like Barbie and brands like American Eagle. The companies emit images that establish that being thin is being beautiful. Girls also are taught from a young age to be nice and classy. They are taught about etiquette and how to dress, walk in heels etc. They are being constructed to hide their feelings in order to act proper. A women who might want to show her true colors can be seen as a "bitch" or not classy which is unacceptable in this society.

“Advertising is our environment. We swim in it as fish swim in water.”

Advertising is all around us and even though some of us might try to avoid it, we can’t. We are surrounded by it everywhere we go, from television to radio to magazines to ad posters out on the streets. There is a whole world of advertisement that encloses us and sadly it has become an everyday environment in our society. Wherever we go there will be some sort of ad that attracts our attention and influences many factors in our lives whether that is our appearance or the things we want to attain. It affects everyone of us and it is especially affecting today's young children. These advertisements are brainwashing kids as they teach them to value objects and their physical appearance rather than other things that truly matter. This type of environment is suffocating us in a way where our future generation will get lost in the world of advertising. The values of young innocent children growing up with negative influences will change the way they grow up and the way this future society will develop into.

"Many young women have told me that their boyfriends wanted them to loose weight. One said that her boyfriend had threatened to leave her if she didn't loose 5 pounds"

this quote really caught my attention because it made me remember what my friend told me once. she was told from her boyfriend to loose weight and she didn't't tell him anything. when she told me this, i went off on her. i told her that she had to have dignity and tell him that if he didnt like her with the pounds she carried on, then he could go and find some other girl that would loose some pounds for him. i really get annoyed when girls feel that they have to do everything that their boyfriend tell her to do because she is going to loose him if she doesn't do it. girls should not let themselves be manipulated by boys. we are strong and we should let them see that. we are the ones that go through almost 12 hours of labor pain just to have a kid. no offense to guys, but they arent the ones who are doing the pushing out a six pound baby in the delivery room. women should see that they are really valuable and that they should not get manipulated. there are so many guys out in the world that do not care on how we look and those are the ones that we have to look for, not the ones that are gonna leave you if you are not a size three with a 60,30,60 body.

''The racism and classism that these girls experience exacerbate their problems.Sexism is by no means the only trauma they face.''(Pg.128)

In today's world,girls are judged ina variety of ways.Girls today are criticized for their appearances,their weight,the size of their breasts,and not to mention that they must also deal with sexism.Many girls begin to be tormented by others at a very young age,which leads them into the world of advertising.Girls see many advertisements on television that promise to improve their lives,and they are more vulnerable to peer pressure from the media and from the public.Girls tend to have a very low self-esteem because of the many different people and advertisements that tell them they are full of imperfections.Because girls are constantly being put down and being told how flawfull they are,they choose to solve their problems by spending ridiculous amounts of money on products that at the end of the day will not help them.Instead they will be left feeling worse than they did before they began using those products.Society has fooled girls into believing that the prettiest girls are those with perfect complexions,ideal weight balances,large breasts,and those who remain pure and virginal.They are surrounded by so many bad influences,that it seems they have forgotten who they really are.Girls are more concerned with keeping everyone else around them happy,that they do not bother thinking about their own happiness.They would rather have society influence them,their spending,and their overall lifestyle.Girls need to stop giving society permission to influence them and their lifestyle!They need to do the things that make them happy,and they also need to realize that they are all beautiful without the use of any products.